Page 56 of No Sweet Goodbyes

We sit back down, both taking some of the massive amount of food that Dom brought in.

“No,” Poppy agrees. “I’m not old. Just don’t believe in love like I used to.”

There’s a sad wistfulness in her voice, and I know she’s hiding the whole story. “What happened with you and Logan? I’ve never seen you snap like that at anyone, and he seemed like he’d stand here and let you stab him with a pencil if it meant you were paying attention to him. Did he really ruin your date last night?”

I cross my legs in my chair and wait for story time to start, because there has to be a story there. Every time I see Logan in the office, he hovers around dispatch. And Poppy does her absolute best to ignore him. Plus, being in dispatch is like being part of a secret club inside the police department. Secret being the operative word because dispatchers know everything about everyone without trying.

And I’ve heard more than a few rumors about how Logan keeps following Poppy from job to job. Which either makes him a stalker and I should avoid him at all costs, or he’s doing something romantic for her. I can’t make up my mind on which until I know the details.

“Oh, Emma.” Poppy shakes her head. “There’s not enough alcohol or food in the entire world for me to tell you that story. And we can’t even drink right now because we’re at work, so I really shouldn’t.”

Her red curls disappear behind her computer before popping up over the monitor like she’s a puppet. “Screw it. I’ll tell you. Logan was my childhood sweetheart. Not even high school or middle school. I mean my childhood. We started kindergarten together, and I told my mother that I would marry him one day. That was our first day of school. Our very first day of school. There wasn’t anyone else. For either one of us. And then he changed. The future we planned together went up in smoke when he joined the military. I got hurt, and he ran away. He lied to me. Over and over again, and he broke every single promise he ever made. He left me.”

Her eyes are shining with unshed tears, and I immediately feel bad for even asking.

“Now he’s just a giant pain in my ass who won’t go away.”

I glance over at the door, hoping that no one is there listening in on our conversation. She shared something extremely private, and while I thought there was a story there, I honestly didn’t think it was something like that.

“Don’t worry,” she says with a sad smile. “There’s food involved. No one’s gonna come up front for a while. Not only that, but most of those guys know we have a history. They won’t snoop.”

“I’m sorry, Poppy.” My chest starts to ache, and I rub the dull throbbing muscle in an attempt to ease the throbbing. “That’s freaking terrible.”

“Yeah, it was.” She smiles, despite the emotional confession. “But you know what’s not terrible? These tacos.” She lifts one up and shakes it gently, being careful not to spill the insides. Her smile dips slightly. “I hope you never go through anything like that with Dom. Deployments change who they are. Whether they want to admit it or not.”

I know all too well what can happen overseas.

“My brother died over there.” I don’t actually need to tell her, I’m sure. “Everyone knows about Danny. I was only sixteen when it happened. They went overseas, and up until my mother answered the door for the notification detail, I was going to join the Marine Corps too.”

Honestly, I don’t know why I’m telling her any of this. I kept it a secret for so long.

“My mom answered the door, and everything in our lives changed. They brought his body home, and we got to put him into the ground. And I swore to myself that I wouldn’t put my family through that. I wouldn’t put myself through that.” My throat feels suddenly smaller than it had a few minutes before, and if I still had food in my mouth, I’m pretty sure that I’d be choking to death.

“I’m just glad that part of our lives is over,” I tell her. “It’s not my place, or anyone else’s for that matter, to tell you what to do about Logan. I know I’m a terrible person to get advice from because I don’t even know what I’m doing next week.”

“You’re starting the rest of your life.” Poppy smiles as the phone starts to ring again. “That’s what you’re doing.”

She’s right.

But our conversation stays with me all day. The pain I saw on both her and Logan’s faces isn’t something I think I’ll be forgetting anytime soon.

Dom’s holding my hand as soon as we’re out of the PD later. “Want to go on a date with me?”

He’s watching me with an expectant grin, and I can’t help getting caught up in the moment. “Sure. As long as we get to play naked games when it’s done.”

19

DOM

Waking up in the middle of the night with Emma’s mouth wrapped around my dick is my new favorite memory.

Unfortunately, waking up from a dream of Emma’s mouth on my body to a ringing phone isn’t quite the same.

“Ortiz,” I answer without checking to see who it is.

“You’re going to murder me.”

I sit upright in bed so fast that Emma tumbles off my chest and onto her pillow with a quiet grunt of annoyance. I watch her, waiting to see if she’ll wake up, but she rolls back over and starts snoring quietly.

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